WSPHA Policy and Procedure

WSPHA Policy and Procedures

Awards Committee

Honoring those professionals who have demonstrated excellence in their work, dedication in their commitment to others through their public health work, and service to their profession is a value of the Washington State Public Health Association. It is the purpose of this document to outline the work of the Awards Committee in order to enable the Association to honor its outstanding public health professionals in the state.

Function of the Awards Committee

Per the by-laws of the Association, the Awards Committee is responsible for the following:

1. Annually, set up a screening and selection process for the annual awards of the Association, awards from the American Public Health Association, and other special distinctions that may be indicated by the Board. Annual awards include:

a. Annual Public Health Leader Award: This award was established in 1959 to recognize outstanding leadership and achievement in public health in Washington State.

§ It is awarded in response to particular contributions to public health characterized by leadership and achievement.

§ The recipient must at some time have been a resident of Washington State, but need not be employed by a health agency or be a member of WSPHA.

b. Tom Drummey Memorial Award: This award was created in 1979 in recognition of Tom Drummey's leadership in WSPHA. It is the highest award bestowed by WSPHA to its members in recognition of achievements and accomplishments in its behalf.

§ It honors an individual who demonstrates continuing interest in, and support of WSPHA activities and works to promote the work of WSPHA throughout the State and with public health agencies.

§ The recipient must be a present or past member of WSPHA and a resident of Washington State.

c. Mike Dickey Memorial Award: This award was created in 1990 in recognition of Mike Dickey, a Health Planner with the Washington State Department of Health.

§ It honors an individual whose health planning efforts improved health, health planning, or health services in Washington State.

§ The individual nominee has a commitment to health planning and working with local and/or state health department officials in promoting health planning in an effort to realize more effective community programs.

§ The recipient must be a present or past member of WSPHA and resident of Washington State.

d. Honorary Life Membership Award: This Award, established prior to 1950, is presented to an individual who has been active with WSPHA and the public health community for a number of years.

§ This award honors valued long-term WSPHA members who can be depended on for his/her talents to promote public health throughout Washington State.

§ The recipient must be a present or past member of WSPHA and resident of Washington State.

e. Emerging Public Health Leader Award: This award, created in 2006, recognizes the competence and activities of WSPHA members who are at the beginning of their public health careers.

§ It honors individuals who support the promotion of public health through demonstrating leadership in advocacy, research, education, management, cultural competency, and/or other areas related to the profession.

§ Individuals will be relatively new to the field of public health, with approximately seven years or less in public health practice.

§ The recipient must be a present or past member of WSPHA and resident of Washington State.

Other Awards: Washington State nominees for recognition from the American Public Health Association.

§ Nominations for APHA awards can be fielded by the WSPHA awards committee and given the support of the committee and Board before submission to the APHA.

§ The committee must agree to support the nomination and get approval of the Board, before endorsing the APHA submission on behalf of WSPHA.

§ WSPHA President’s Award: This award is given by the sitting president of WSPHA. It recognizes an individual or organization that is not necessarily a public health official (or agency) and has demonstrated interest in promoting the holistic approach to the achievement of health. Note that this award is listed here as it is among the annual WSPHA awards, but is NOT part of a function of the WSPHA Awards Committee as it is a responsibility of the current WSPHA president.

2. Develop criteria for nomination and selection of persons to be considered for presentation of awards or other honors by groups separate from the Association.

3. Annually, recommend the award candidates for Board approval prior to the Joint Conference on Health.

4. Recommend any changes in award criteria to the Board for approval.

5. Recommend any additions or deletions to awards categories to the Board for approval.

Membership

The Awards Committee is made up of a Chairperson(s), who is/are a member of the Board of Directors as well as additional committee members from among the WSPHA membership. Additional committee members may come from the Board of Directors. Awards committee membership is voluntary, and the Chairperson(s) may recruit members to the committee as needed to carry out the work of the committee.

Conflict of Interest

All members of the Awards Committee are guided by the conflict of interest policy of the Board of Directors when discussing and voting on awards decisions. Committee members who have nominated persons for the awards may participate in the committee discussion of the candidate but should remove themselves from the voting process. Committee members may have other reasons to remove themselves from the voting process as well. Awards committee members who have conflicts of interest with the work of the committee should make those known to the other members of the committee.

Procedure for Submitting Nominations

Nominators must be a current member of WSPHA and should follow the steps below when submitting a nomination.

1. Complete the online application form to provide contact information and signify for which award the individual is being nominated for. The Application form is available on the WSPHA website.

2. Include a one-page statement with the online form, clearly describing how the nominee's credentials and accomplishments meet the award criteria with careful consideration that the nominee meets the award criteria.

3. Attach or email at least two letters of support from others who know the nominee and can document how the nominee meets the award criteria.

4. Complete the online form and mail additional letters or materials to the WSPHA administrator by COB of the indicated due date.

Procedure for Selecting Award Recipients from among the Nominations

1. The Awards Committee Chairs compiles electronic files for each candidate and makes them available to the Awards Committee

2. Awards Committee members mutually agree to use a set of criteria (see Appendix) to score each application based on materials provided.

3. The Awards Committee members submit their score sheets to the Committee chair who may arrange a conference call meeting to make final decisions based on scoring and further discussion, as needed. Other factors, along with the nominee’s score, may be taken into account such as:

a. Previous WSPHA awards given to the nominee.

b. WSPHA’s commitment to honor geographic, agency, ethnic/racial, discipline, and other types of diversity.

4. The Awards Committee decides on a set of recommendations regarding awardees and submits these to the Board of Directors for their approval.

NOTE that Awards Committee members agree to maintain the confidentiality of the names of those who were nominated for awards. At the discretion of the Awards Committee and the award nominator, award recipients can be notified in advance of receipt of the award or can be notified at the Annual Meeting itself.

Timelines for Awards

Awards are presented at the Joint Conference on Health held annually in October. The Awards Committee will follow the Timeline below when carrying out its work each year. The Chairperson(s) is responsible for adhering to this timeline.

Timeline for WSPHA Awards

February	Reconnect w/ Nomination Committee · Verify their continuation on committee · Recruit newcomers, as needed
February/March	Update the information letter for the WSPHA awards web site
February/March	Update the application form as needed
April	Submit article regarding upcoming nomination process for Spring Newsletter
May 15 (to July 15)	Open request for nominations on web site
May 15	Contact nominators who’s candidate did not win the previous year and encourage their participation
May 15	· Request Association Manager to send out email notice to the WSPHA list serve regarding open nominations and website for more information · Request Board and committee members send this on to their list serves · Request Board and committee members include the nominations in their agencies’ newsletters or other broad-based communication tools
May 15	Remind WSPHA President to consider their “pick” for the President’s Award
May	Remind Association Manager to include awards in the JCH program
June 15	Send out email list serve reminder to the membership to submit nominations
Early July	Set up two conference calls with committee for August (initial discussion and final decision making)
July 15	Awards submission deadline
August 5	Send out applications to committee members
Early August	Initial conference call with Committee members regarding award applications
Mid August (prior to August Board mtg)	Conference call with committee to make final award judgments—before the August Board meeting
August Board meeting	Present Awards Committee’s suggested candidates to Board for approval
by August 31	Committee makes final award decisions
Early September	Notify all nominators of results
Early September	Notify Association Manager of award recipients (Association Manager to order awards).
September	Work with Association Manager and JCH Committee to determine timing of award presentation and confirm with recipient’s nominators
October	Prepare packets for awards’ recipients with letters submitted by the nominator and a letter from WSPHA president
October	Send thank you letters to nominators whose candidate were not chosen
December	Update WSPHA website with winners for that year

Procedures for Creating a New Award Category

Any person wishing to create a new category for a WSPHA award must follow the steps outlined below:

1. Develop a written request for consideration of the award, including a rationale for the award with appropriate information about what the award would recognize/honor as well as the criteria to be used in the selection of someone to receive the award.

2. Submit the request to the WSPHA Awards Committee chairperson.

3. The Chairperson(s) will review the request and discuss it with the committee. The committee may request more information and/or discussion from the person asking for the award consideration.

4. The Committee will:

a. Review/rewrite/reword the information about the award until it is in a form that can be sent forward for Board consideration.

b. Decide not to send the request forward.

5. The Chairperson(s) of the Committee will present the request to add the award to the group of awards given by WSPHA each year to the Board at a monthly meeting.

6. Majority approval of the Board is required to create the new award category.

7. The new award will be presented at the first opportunity after it is created.

APPENDIX

WSPHA Award Nominations Scoring Sheet

Scoring Directions: Please review each of the candidates’ packets and provide a score for each. Each nominee can receive a score of 1- 5. A score of 5 is the highest and indicates that they most match the description and intent of the award (this is not intended to be a ranking). We will add up the points for each. The nominee with the highest number of points will receive the award this year. In the event of a tie, you may be asked to assist again in scoring to determine the award recipient. Thank you for your assistance!

Annual Award: This award was established in 1959 to recognize outstanding leadership and achievement in public health in Washington State. It is awarded in response to particular contributions to public health characterized by leadership and achievement. The recipient must at some time have been a resident of Washington State, but need not be employed by a health agency or be a member of WSPHA.

_____ Nominee #1 Name _______________

· nominated by ____________